Escaping the Capitol
by Catching Fireflies
Summary: They're the ones that no one wants, the orphans that no one will adopt... so they are 'kindly' taken in by the Snows in their foster home. But they're being treated worse than ever there. And that's what new resident Maysilee Donner quickly discovers. So with the help of her new friend Haymitch, she plans to escape the Capitol Foster Home. Modern Day.
1. Welcome to the Capitol

**Hey! So, for all of you who are thinking, ****_what the fuck, Catching Fireflies has ANOTHER fanfic?_****... Well, the only major fanfic that I'm working on now is A Deadly Fire, and I need something now. Plus I felt really inspired. It's in Maysilee's point of view, since I've never seen a modern day fanfic about Maysilee and Haymitch. But don't worry, I'm going to include as much characters as possible.**

**Keep in mind, I have changed ages to make the characters younger sometimes. Also, some of the characters may be OOC a little, but that's to fit the circumstances and the plot, so no flaming on that.**

**This is my first modern day fanfic, so tell me what you think!**

_**Welcome to the Capitol**_

I stare at the little old house in the middle of the woods for a second disbelievingly. I've been to quite a few foster homes, but this is definitely the strangest one. Wooden, weathered, with an old splintery sign that says in flaking white paint: CAPITOL FOSTER HOME. The curtains on the windows are tattered and faded, and the brick sidewalk is overgrown with weeds. It sits there, like a monster ready to jump out and eat me or something.

_Get over it, Maysilee,_ I think. _You're seventeen years old, not five._ I turn back to the driver of the community bus, who I had to pay specially to come out here. "Are you sure this is right? This looks like a pile of firewood," I say, scowling. My arm's getting tired, so I set down my heavy suitcase on the ground.

The driver flips me off through the window, flooring the gas and speeding off. "So long, bitch!" he yells through as he speeds down the dirt round, leaving me in a cloud of dust, alone, standing in front of the creepy old house, in the middle of the woods. I cough on the dirt, my eyes watering. I glare at the bus at it fades out of sight, turning back onto the highway.

Then I walk up the sidewalk hesitantly, almost tripping over a clump of grass, dragging my suitcase along behind me. There's no porch. I step onto the doorstep. There's a rusty doorknocker on the door. No doorbell. Okay, that's a little more than just creepy. I lift the piece of metal and let it bang down on the door a few times. I raise a hand, wiping dust off the little window in the door. I can see a blurry staircase and a long entryway. Then I'm almost knocked off the doorstep when someone opens the door.

It's a little girl, probably around ten years old. Her dark, curly hair is in a bunch of little braids, and she's grinning at me, her teeth white against her dark brown skin and dark eyes. "Hi!" she says, blushing, sounded a little embarrassed. "Are you Maysilee Donner?"

For some reason, my heart softens a little. "Yep," I say, trying my best to smile. "So this is the Capitol Foster Home?"

The little girl nods. "Yeah," she says, her smile fading. "Poor you. This place is bad. Mr. and Mrs. Snow are mean to us." Before I can respond to that -Mr. and Mrs. Snow are the owners of the foster home, right?- she goes on. "I'm Rue. I'm ten years old. I just had my birthday yesterday." She grins proudly.

I smile. "Did you have a birthday party?" I ask. Back when I was ten... it hits me like a bullet to the heart. That was before my parents and my twin sister died. All we were doing was eating at a fast food place, and I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. And I came back to a fire, burning down the whole place. I barely managed to get out. And my family didn't.

Ten was my last birthday with my family.

"No," says Rue, interrupting my train of thought. "Mr. and Mrs. Snow wouldn't let me. They gave me an extra helping of canned green beans at lunch, though!" she says, brightening. I make a face. Ew, green beans. "Come on, Maysilee, you should run while you c-" She freezes.

I'm about to ask what's wrong when I see the man. He comes up to the door, and I'm almost overwhelmed by the reek of what I guess is rotting roses. "Hello, Miss Donner," he says, shaking my free hand. Okay, he's seriously scaring the shit out of me, even though he's just a thin old man with thinning white hair. "I'm glad you're here. I'm Mr. Coriolanus Snow." Rue almost giggles at his ridiculous first name, but she looks solemn when he looks at her. "Rue! Can you show Maysilee to the girls' dormitories?"

Rue nods. "C'mon, Maysilee," she says eagerly, tugging me by the hand. I step inside the house, following her. Shivers run down my spine. This place is seriously creeping me out. The chandeliers are old and fancy, covered in dust, and the stairs are steep and creaky. But Rue runs up them like she's been doing this her whole life. "Hurry up!" she squeals. I sigh and drag my suitcase up the steps, leaning on the railing. Rue turns left down the hall. At the end of the hallway is a door, and I hear noise coming from behind it.

We walk in, and there is a little hallway with two doors. "These are the three girls' rooms," she explains. She points at the first door, the one to the left. "This one is for the eight- to twelve-year-old girls. And this one-" she points at the other door- "-is the thirteen- to eighteen-year-olds." I nod, and she opens the door, gesturing inside. "Bye. I can't go in, since I'm too young."

I step inside, and immediately, everyone's staring at me. It's just a room that is absolutely packed with bunk beds and teenage girls. They stop talking to stare at me. There's a few of them, the richer and more popular-looking ones, who look at me like I'm some kind of freak, then go back to gossiping and painting their nails. There's cheesy pop music blasting from an old radio in the corner, and a few girls are crowded around it. Everyone's beds are made neatly, with their suitcases at the foot.

"Hi," I say, just to break the silence.

Some of them give me rude looks, but one of the girls by the radio stands up. "Hey," she says with a smile. Her hair is wavy and loose, and her eyes are bright green. "I'm Annie. You're Maysilee, right?" I nod. She points to an empty lower bunk. "That one's yours, right under Cashmere's bed." One of the nail-painting girls, with curly blond hair, sighs dramatically. I assume that she's Cashmere.

Shit. I'm screwed.

* * *

"Got any threes, Maysilee?" Annie asks me, examining her cards. I squint at my own. They're so faded that I can hardly read them. Nope, no threes.

"Go fish," I say, my stomach growling. We've barely started playing, and we're already bored. It looks like Johanna's bored too. She's got short, spiky hair, and is leaning back on her pillows as we all sit on her bed, yawning exaggeratedly. The other girl, Emma, is playing with a strand of her red hair. At first, I thought her name was Foxface, since the snobby bitches keep calling her that, but she insists that it's a nickname. We're all just sitting here. Dinner's in two hours, and we're all starving.

"I'm bored," Johanna announces, faking another yawn. "Let's talk or something." Then she sits up straighter, looking at me. "Hey, Maysilee, I forgot to ask. How'd you end up here, anyway? No one gets here by chance, or straight after becoming an orphan or whatever."

I sigh, looking at my hands. "When I was ten, my parents and my twin sister and I went to some fast food place," I begin. "I went to the bathroom, and there... was a fire in the back. The bathrooms were the only part of the restaurant that didn't burn. And my family died." Johanna gestures impatiently for me to go on. "Oh, well... no one really wanted to adopt me. Everyone thought I was a spoiled brat, and I kept getting bullied at school. So I'd end up getting revenge on the bullies, and no one wanted to adopt a girl who started a fire in the bathroom sinks of her school." Foxface snorts. "And by then, I was too old to be really desirable. After all, I'm seventeen now."

"Sorry for your losses. That must have been horrible," says Annie sympathetically. I nod, biting my lip. "_I_ got here because my lived by the ocean, you know, and my father worked on a fishing boat. I was an only child, and my mother had already died giving birth to me. Then there was a hurricane, and everyone on my dad's boat died." She sighs. "That was two years ago. Like you said, no one wants to adopt teenagers, so I ended up here."

"Wimps," taunts Johanna. "I got here because my parents kicked me out of my family when they decided they didn't like my latest boyfriend." She sees the look on my face. "Yeah, my boyfriend wasn't that bad, but my parents were a bitch and an asshole. Perfect for each other. And I was only fourteen then. No one wanted to take me in because they thought I was a slut." She turns to Foxface. "What about you, Fooooooooxxxxxxxaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy?" She draws it out, making Annie giggle.

"Don't call me that," says Foxface, grinning. "You guys know perfectly well that I've only been here for a month." Her smile fades. "My dad left my mother when I was two years old, and he refused to take me in when the court deemed my mom unfit to take care of me." She looks away from us, looking at Johanna's bedspread like it's the most amazing thing that she's seen in her life. "She was an alcoholic. That is, before..." Foxface's voice gets all squeaky. "Okay, I hated her, but just two days ago, I got a notice that she drank herself to death. Because she _missed_ me." Poor Foxface grabs Johanna's pillow and buries her face in it, crying softly.

One of the bitches stands up. She's tall and curvy, with lush blond hair. "Hey, everyone, Foxface is crying!" she announces, giggling stupidly. "Ooooh, poor little Emma. Want your mommy to kiss you better?" She's talking in a stupid baby voice. Her friends -which include Cashmere, my bunkmate- are laughing. Then the girl pretends to remember something. "Oh, but I forgot! Emma's mommy drank herself to de-"

Johanna stands up and starts yelling before the girl can finish. "Go fuck yourself, Glimmer!" she yells. "We all know that's what you do every night. Look at Emma! You fucking bitch! You stupid slut! You disgusting little whore, go off and fuck Coriolanus Snow!" Johanna steps forward to punch the girl -Glimmer, what a stupid name- in the face.

I stand up and hold her back. "Jo, calm it," I say. Then I look up at Glimmer. "And no, I'm not on your side of this. Don't say that about Emma. Johanna's right. You _are_ a fucking stupid bitch." _Good going, Maysilee,_ I think bitterly to myself. _It's a good thing that your parents are dead, or else they'd wash your mouth out with soap._ My parents were prim and proper all the time. I feel a hollow ache, and then I'm even more angry at Glimmer for taking a stab at Foxface's life.

Here I am with a few friends and a shitload of bitches.

* * *

"Dinner!" yells a woman's sharp voice from downstairs. A dinner bell is ringing.

There's a lot of yelling and happy shouts, and I slide off the bed, kind of unsure of what to do. But Foxface, who has brightened now -apparently seeing Glimmer meet her match was funny to her- beckons me to come. "C'mon, Maysilee," she says, smiling. "You don't want to be last in line, do you? Or else you might not get any food at all."

We run out the door, our feet thundering down the stairs as we follow everyone else. I notice the boys, too. There's a lot of hot guys, I'll admit, but none of them really strike me. "You're kidding, right?" I say. "They've got to feed us _something_."

Foxface shakes her head as we all get in line in what looks to be the dining area. It's a room with a lot of rickety old tables and dim lighting. We are all handed lunch trays by a middle-aged woman with iron-gray hair and a stern expression -Mrs. Snow. We're waiting in line for a while. There must be at least fifty people in front of me. But finally, after what seems like forever, I'm at the front of the line. Mrs. Snow gives me tiny helpings of canned corn, old chicken nuggets, bread, and a small glass of milk. "Thank you, Mrs. Snow," I say, trying to sound sincere.

"You may call me Alma," she says coldly. "Sit down, we're taking roll call." I'm a little confused, but I sit down at one of the tables with Annie, Johanna, and Foxface. They barely gave any of us any food. I scowl at my lunch tray, but then Mr. Snow and Alma stand up at the front of the room like they're about to say something important, so I turn in my seat to face them.

"Roll call!" Alma yells. "Raise your hand when your name is called!" She looks at a paper in her hands, which is likely a list of the people here. "Beetee Aaron!" A black-haired boy raises his hand. "Rue Addison!" Rue raises her hand. I don't exactly listen, but I raise my hand when Alma shouts, "Maysilee Donner!" The list goes on for a while, and it's so boring to me. My stomach growls. I'm so hungry, even for the tiny bit of food that they gave me.

"Hmm, only one person missing," says Mr. Snow.

There's laughing from the boys. "Haymitch Abernathy!" one of them shouts. "The _drunk drug addict_, all alone up there! Missing again!"

"Now, now, Marvel, don't speak that way," Snow reprimands the boy. Then he looks up. "Well, Haymitch doesn't come to meals much, so everyone may eat! Remember, no talking! You may dismiss yourselves whenever you are done eating!" I frown. No talking? Johanna sees my expression and nods, grimacing through a mouthful of bread. With a scowl, I dig into my food, eating it all as fast as I can. It's barely filling, and I almost gag on the corn.

I stand up, pushing my chair in. I'm the first one who is done eating, but I don't care. I walk up the stairs quietly, but I stop when I'm on the landing. _What's that noise?_ I stand perfectly still for one second, listening as hard as I can. I realize that I hear quiet music coming from the boy's dormitories. I quietly go up the rest of the stairs, trying not to make the boards creak. I stand right in front of the older boys' room. It's coming from there. And I hear someone's voice. _Haymitch Abernathy... the drunk drug addict?_ I think, wondering about Marvel's words in the dining hall.

I make it out more clearly after a second of listening. Is he talking to himself? No, that isn't talking, that's rapping. I press my ear against the door, listening closely. Yeah. It's the voice of a boy who sounds to be around my age. I can't make out what he's saying, so I carefully open the door a crack and squint in. There's a boy, standing in the middle of the room, with some kind of music player blasting a rap song. I don't focus on the words, just on his looks. He has dark hair and olive skin, and he's handsome in a sort of cocky, rough way. But right now, he looks furious at nothing in particular, but it's almost like he's directing his anger at something.

He's yelling out the lyrics, rapping along. He's actually not bad. Then he takes a breath and starts the chorus. "My mom, loved valium, and lots of drugs. That's why I am, like I am, 'cause I'm like her. Because my mom, loved valium, and lots of drugs. That's why I'm on, what I'm on, 'cause I'm my mom."

A chill runs down my spine. Something about Haymitch is making me nervous, just like the Snows and this house do. But as I step back to go back to my bunk and wait for my new friends to finish eating, a board makes a load _creak_ under my foot.

Haymitch turns around quickly to see me, standing in the hallway like a deer caught in the headlights. "What the fuck are you watchin' me for, sweetheart?" he says. His voice isn't exactly angry like it was when he was rapping, but now it just sounds sarcastic and arrogant. In the background, the song he was rapping along to ends after a few seconds. "Look, if you mention that to anyone at all," he says, "then I'll come in your room and put a knife through your throat. Okay?"

I nod, my throat dry, my heart racing. "Okay," I agree. Then I turn around and go back to my room, sitting on my bunk. Waiting for my friends.

They come back. "Hey, Maaaaaaaayyyyyyysiiiiiiilleee!" Johanna says, grinning. "Want to play Go Fish some more?" I'm not concentrating, so I don't answer right away. Taking my second of silence as a yes, we all sit down on my bed, Annie getting out her worn deck of cards. Pretty soon, we're well into the game. But I'm losing by a lot. Barely concentrating, because I can't get that song out of my head. I can hear Haymitch's voice echoing in my brain.

_"My mom, loved valium, and lots of drugs. That's why I am, like I am, 'cause I'm like her. Because my mom, loved valium, and lots of drugs. That's why I'm on, what I'm on, 'cause I'm my mom."_

**The song that Haymitch was rapping was My Mom by Eminem. I'm a huge Eminem fan. Besides, the song reminds me a lot of Haymitch's backstory that I'm making up for this story.**

**Hope you liked it! Tell me what you think!**


	2. In the Seam

**Hey, people who actually read this! :D Thanks to Anarchy Girl and shady66730 for reviewing, it made my day. I still don't own the song My Mom by Eminem, since I mention it again. This chapter's going to be a short one, with more backstory to it for Haymitch. And hopefully a little humor for you guys... Nothing else to say... hope you enjoy this chapter!**

_**In the Seam**_

"So," says Foxface, after we get tired of playing cards. She's making a tower of cards on my pillow. So far, it's pretty tall. "I'm bored... any boys you think are cute, Johanna?" she adds lazily, with a mischievous smile.

Johanna shakes her head, grinning. "Nope," she says proudly, fiddling with the radio and trying to tune it into a different station than the shit that the bitches were listening to earlier, before dinner. She punches the air victoriously as she finds a rap station, leaving it there. Something that sounds awful is blaring away. "Ugh, I hate this song," she mutters. "Oh, well. It's better than pop." Then she remember's Foxface's question. "None of 'em are worthy of me."

Annie laughs. "I... I kind of like Finnick," she says shyly. "You know. That one really sexy guy with beautiful green eyes, a perfect golden tan, and his _hair..._" She giggles. "All the girls like him, but..."

"Someone's in love," I tease, and Foxface starts laughing so hard that her breath knocks over the card tower.

"Shit," she mutters, shuffling the deck. "Hey, Maysilee, any guys that you like around here? I could totally tell that the hot Asian dude Beetee was giving you the looks."

"Ugh, no," I say, smiling, but my head's really spinning. I keep thinking about Haymitch. I'm silent for a few seconds. The shitty rap song ends, replaced by a new one, and my blood goes cold, a shiver going down my spine. It's the one that Haymitch was rapping along to. "What's this song called, Jo?" I ask without thinking. "Sounds like you know a lot about rap."

"Oh, this?" says Johanna, gesturing to the radio. "It's 'My Mom' by Eminem. He's awesome, right?" She grins, climbing up to Cashmere's bunk. Cashmere shrieks in horror from across the room, spotting Johanna jumping around on her bed. "My mom, loved valium..." she belts out. It's kind of weird, seeing Johanna doing this. Deja vu, almost. Then she jumps back down with a crash on the floor, dusting herself off and smiling. "Okay, I'll take that back," she says. "Actually, my mom was a bitch. That stuff applies to Eminem, not me." Foxface is grinning so wide that it looks like her face is going to split open. "So... about the cute boys, Maysilee... anyone?"

I'm about to shake my head, deny it with a smile, but I can't. Instead, I say, "Hey, Johanna? How did Haymitch Abernathy get here?"

She snorts. "Haymitch? You're telling me that you've actually seen Haymitch?" She winks. "He is pretty seeeeeexxxaaaaaaayyy."

"I'm just curious, that's all," I lie. And it's true, I'm curious. But I've seen Haymitch. It seems like that song is pounding through my blood now, so loud that it hurts. I turn down the radio a little. "C'mon, do you know?"

"Actually, yeah," she says. She turns off the old lamp by my bed and puts a flashlight under her chin like she's telling a ghost story. She leers at us evilly and laughs like a maniac when Annie yelps in terror for a second. "Once upon a time," she says in a mystic voice, "there was this one guy." _Good start, Johanna,_ I think. _'This one guy?'_ But I'm too curious to laugh at her choice of words. "He lived in a coal mining town with his wife, in the poor part called the Seam. He was a coal miner. And poof! They had two sons!" She grins wickedly. "I have to say that they appeared out of nowhere, or else it's too vulgar for Annie's precious ears."

"Hey," says Annie. "I'm seventeen, like Maysilee. And if you're worried about anyone, _Foxface_ is only sixteen-" She's silenced by Foxface's dirty look. "Okay, fine, go on, Jo."

"Thank you, thank you," Johanna purrs. "All right, the wife got knocked up twice after a few too many trips to the bedroom." We all burst into hysterical laughter, even Johanna. It's a good thing that Cashmere is on the other side of the room gossiping with her bitchy friends, otherwise she'd think that we're crazy. "Anyway. The first son was named Haymitch. The second son was named I-don't-give-a-fuck." Foxface snorts, knocking down her second card tower. "And then, guess what happened? This one dumb guy was smoking weed down in the coal mines..." I give her a _"what the fuck?"_ kind of look. "Yeah, it's all true. And bang! He had a lighter, and... there goes the coal mine!"

"So Haymitch's dad died?" I ask curiously, leaning forward. "In a mine explosion? Sucks to be him." When really, I'm curious.

"No," she says. "He was out sick that day with the flu. And all of his miner friends died. And after _that,_ he had severe depression and a bad drinking problem. And poof! One day, he drank himself to death and killed the younger son and Haymitch's girlfriend on a drunken rampage right before he kicked the bucket." Johanna furrows her brow as the song plays on. "And after _that_... well, funny that this song is playing. It's always reminded me a little of Haymitch. And- oh, this is my favorite part!" she squeals ecstatically, jumping to her feet and running around the room screaming her head off and literally jumping over our unsuspecting roommates, turning up the radio to full blast. "Vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmm!" she yells along to the song, sounding a little like she's yodeling.

"Are you quite all right, Johanna?" I ask as she sits back down like nothing ever happened. Foxface and Annie have a bad case of the giggles. Everyone's looking at us like we're nuts, but none of us care.

"Yeah!" she says happily. "Anyway..." She re-positions her flashlight under her chin. "Yeah. So the little boy's dead, and same with Haymitch's girlfriend, who was at the house with Haymitch that day. And Haymitch watched his father, his brother, _and_ his girlfriend get murdered." I shiver. At least I didn't have to watch my family die. That's one good thing out of it, I guess. "And then his mother comes home from her job -poof!- and finds them dead. After that, poof! there she goes. One minute, she's a caring mother that loves her sons, and the next, she's got a drug addiction problem." I bite my lip, a chill running down my spine. "And one day, here comes the court, and they say, 'Yo, Haymitch's mom, bitch, you can't take care of your boy no more.' Or something like that."

"So that's it, how he ended up here?" I say, reaching out to turn on my lamp again. But Johanna slaps my hand away.

"Yes and no," she says, grinning. "You know how it seems to be a cycle? First the dad drinks and dies, the mom gets addicted? Well, guess what? Here's Haymitch, with both of their genes, and you know what he goes and does? Does drugs and gets drunk!" Johanna seems to find this hilarious, laughing. Then she switches off her flashlight and turns on my light again. "But he really hates his mother for doing that to him," she adds as a sort of afterthought.

A different song is playing, and my hand moves instinctively to turn off the radio. It's silent for a second as I think. Yeah, that song really does make me think of Haymitch. A lot. So that's why he looked so angry when he was alone in his room. That's why he looked like he wanted to kill someone and punch their brains out. Because he _does_want to kill someone.

Suddenly, I'm having some second thoughts about Haymitch Abernathy.

**Isn't Johanna a great storyteller? ;)**


	3. Subliminally

**Hey! Sorry for the wait, I've had writer's block, vacation, and school is coming up in a couple of days for me. Along with cross country, which is killing me already... :'( Hey, remember what Johanna did in the last chapter, you know, singing (yodeling?) and running around the room? I had to do that exact thing when I was playing truth or dare with my sister and a friend. :) Anyway... yeah. Thanks to cursed to curse, shady66730, and charliesunshine (twice!) for reviewing, and thanks to everyone who favorited or followed!**

**Sorry for the lines of seemingly useless shit. Just take comfort in the fact that it was originally ONE paragraph... I think I've managed to include almost every girl in the Hunger Games trilogy (except for the parents of characters, children of the original characters, and Capitol people, who I left out on purpose).**

**Oh, and I've got a new story with an OC tribute from District Six, called Roads To Amity, so check that out!**

_**Subliminally**_

There's a knock on the door, and Johanna straightens up. "Hide the cards, Emma," she hisses. "It's _Coin._" I raise an eyebrow at her, and she quickly adds, "Oh, I mean, Mrs. Snow. Or Alma, whatever you know her as. Coin was her maiden name. Plus, she's a complete penny-pincher." I grin as Emma stashes the cards in my pillowcase.

"What's this?" I whisper to Annie, who is sitting innocently on my bed. I glance at Emma, who is sitting Indian-style with her

"Oh, just our nightly talking session," she says, twisting up her face into a goofy scowl. She looks so funny, with that lush brown hair and sea-green eyes combined with the childish frown. She grins. "You know. Talking about what we want to do once we get out of this awful place. If we're going to get married and have some kids. Where we want to go to college."

"Oh, great," I mutter sarcastically as Alma comes into the room. She's wearing a very modest gray dress that goes down to her feet and a pair of gray shoes. Gray, gray, gray. It's like looking at a storm cloud. She almost looks like an old-time schoolteacher, ready to lecture the class and make them copy down poetry or something. I can already tell that I'm going to hate this.

"Good evening, young ladies," Alma says, in a very prim and proper manner. She even says 'evening' like it's spelled, like 'even' with 'ing' added. I start to get the feeling that I'd rather be in any other foster home.

Johanna rolls her eyes and pretends to gag as everyone echoes, "Good evening, Mrs. Snow." I say it a little late, since I'm a newbie to this, and Annie flashes me a quick grin as Johanna smirks. Foxface just does a fancy shuffling to her hidden cards, whistling 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' obliviously.

Alma walks around the room, glaring at us like a hawk deciding which mouse is tastiest. She picks out the ones who she thinks are doing something wrong -the mice who are too skinny and not filling enough, I guess. I press my lips together to keep from grinning. "Miss Smith, spit out your gum," she snaps at Cashmere. She scowls and spits out a wad of pink bubblegum in the trash can, sauntering back to her seat on Glimmer's bunk. "Miss Stanston, pay attention!" Glimmer looks up. "Miss Lane, this is not music class, stop whistling." Foxface stops whistling obediently like she's never done anything wrong at all.

"All right, young ladies," says Mrs. Snow, sitting down in a comfy-looking armchair. Johanna fakes a very exaggerated yawn that makes her jaw pop, and Foxface keeps her expression so falsely solemn that Johanna almost cracks up, muttering something about a funeral. _Okay, no thinking about funerals..._ I tell myself. _Not allowed._

"We're going to go around the room and everyone, tell your first name. Then, since tonight's topic is our futures, tell what you want to do when you grow up. Will you get married? Have children? If so, how many? What do you want to do for a career? Where do you plan to go to college?" We all nod simultaneously like a roomful of robots. "Good. We'll start with Miss Everdeen."

A girl with a black braid over her shoulder and olive skin looks up, a little shyly. "My name's Katniss," she mumbles, not looking anyone in the eyes. "I don't want to get married or have any children. I don't know where I'm going to go to college, probably somewhere in the west that's got a good sports program. And I want to..." She blushes. "I want to get the gold in Olympic Archery."

"Good, good," says Mrs. Snow. "Very ambitious. Always a wonderful quality." She nods at Katniss, but neither of them smile. Ugh. "Now, next for-"

It goes on like this for a while. I find out that Cashmere and Glimmer want to run a beauty salon together, and they both want to have a bunch of kids and live in New York City. They're very bubbly while explaining it. Mrs. Snow smiles at that, nodding approvingly again.

Johanna wants to get married, but not have kids, and go to a good college. Mrs Snow frowns a little when Johanna doesn't say a job, but Johanna adds, "Oh, I guess I'd want to be in the lumber industry." 'Coin' exhales, and gives the nod again.

Foxface wants to travel the world and live in the mountains of Europe. When asked about her career, she shrugs. "A spy," she jokes, in a hopefully false sly voice. "I like knowing things about other people." Which kind of worries me, but I don't really mind. Foxface is nice. I notice that Coin doesn't nod this time.

Annie wants to get married and have a few kids, and move to somewhere by the sea and run a daycare. "I need to remember my father," she says quietly. Coin eats it up and gushes about what wonderful therapy that will be for her, and Johanna snickers.

A girl with a brown ponytail and deep brown eyes -who insists on everyone calling her her last name, Paylor- wants to run for president. She isn't even being sarcastic. "How ambitious! Wonderful!" Coin says, smiling, but the smile never reaches her slushy-gray eyes. I feel a sudden hate for Coin and her nightly talking sessions. I'm bored already, and it's my first day.

A girl named Bonnie wants to run a cloth, sewing, and clothing shop with her friend, Twill, who is a couple years older and sitting next to her. They look like good friends. You know, the type that gets along like they're sisters. Coin seems to find this a good career for them.

A girl named Cecelia wants to have three kids and make quilts for a living. Coin says that she should join Bonnie and Twill, and Bonnie grins. "Yeah, we need another person!" she says, and Cecelia smiles shyly. And that gets me thinking, but I'll have to wait for later to think deeply and concentrate.

A tall, muscular girl named Clove wants to throw knives in the Olympics. This worries Coin a little. "Isn't that a little... violent?" Coin asks, but Clove just nods, saying that she likes violence. I take note of that. I hear Johanna mutter something that makes Foxface punch her playfully in the shoulder, and I grin.

A smiling, yellow-haired girl named Delly wants to teach preschool and have as many kids as she can. Coin loves that. At least Delly doesn't look like a suck-up, she actually looks like a nice person. Maybe there is some nice people here.

A girl with sharpened teeth and a fierce looking, who says that her name is Enobaria, wants to be an orthodontist. I'm scared for her patients. I bet even that overly nice Delly wouldn't come to her office.

A sickly-looking girl named Alexia, who looks like she's going overboard on the drugs, says that she wants to be a painter and live in Morphling Land, which makes the bitches giggle. Poor thing. She's got the the looks of a drug addict... which reminds me of Haymitch... which makes my stomach turn.

A poor-looking, frail girl whom everyone calls Greasy Sae wants to have a food stand, which doesn't seem very ambitious to me. I hear someone whisper, "I bet she sells dead dogs", and a burst of giggles starts up nearby.

Someone named Hazelle just says that she wants to have kids and be a washerwoman. I can tell that she's done a lot of washing before, considering the calluses and blisters on the skin of her hands. Red and cracked. I wince.

A tough-looking girl named Jackson wants to be in the army, along with a pair of twins, who everyone calls Leeg One and Leeg Two for their last name. "It's wonderful that you plan to serve our country," Coin says solemnly. Johanna rolls her eyes, muttering something about how our country isn't exactly that great. Oh, well. Maybe when Paylor's old enough, she'll be a good president.

A girl named Lyme wants to be a quarry worker. "Oh, I grew up in a stone-quarry town," she explains to Coin, who looks befuddled.

A black-haired girl named Wiress wants to move to Canada and become an electrician. Simple. I find myself half-wishing that she could electrocute Snow and Coin, and I have to hide my smile.

A blond-haired girl named Madge wants to be the mayor of her old town where she used to live. "My dad used to be the mayor," she says quietly. I wonder if her father is dead. Probably.

Next is a girl named Mags, who obviously has a speaking problem. Coupled with her thick southern accent, it's hard to understand. Sounds like gargling. But Coin translates. "Oh, so you want to live by the ocean too?" she says, smiling. "You and Annie would get along well." Mags says something back to Annie, and Annie smiles and nods. I don't understand a word of Mags's speech, but oh well.

A girl with one arm named Ripper -I hear someone snicker at her name- wants to run a liquor store. She manages to say this with a straight face. Coin scowls. "You should have a better standard to set," she says, her nose wrinkled up like she's smelled a skunk.

An olive-skinned girl named Seeder says that she wants to be a farmer and have a lot of kids. Coin doesn't really have anything nice or rude to say to that.

And me? I just want my family back. I want to be happy again. But I can't say that. "I... I want to run a candy store," I say. "And go to a good college. And marry, and maybe have kids." Coin nods, acting like this is okay, but inside, I'm furious. We'll be lucky to _live_ through this place and get to have the futures that we want.

* * *

"Johanna?" I say quietly, tiptoeing over to her bunk. It's past lights out, and everyone else is fast asleep. But my thoughts are racing too much to sleep. Remembering my family, the cruelty here, our discussion, my idea to get us all out of here, and most of all, Haymitch. Maybe he'd help me out with my idea.

She sits up. "Here," she mumbles, patting the foot of her bed. "Sit down, May. What is it?"

"I've got an idea," I say. She gestures for me to go on, tossing her messy hair out of her face. "We need to get out of here. So why don't we use everyone's talents to get us out? I mean, Clove and Katniss are good with weapons, and I bet some others are, too. And some are good leaders and things. How hard could it be?" Johanna is wordless. "I mean, really. Couldn't we just go up to Snow and Coin and say that they're treating us badly? And crises unite, so we should make... um, alliances, kind of, with the people that don't like us? But we've got to be direct and quick with everything..."

Even in the darkness, I see Johanna shake her head vigorously. "No, no," she says. "Maysilee, you don't get it. These things take time. And we can't just say it straight out. We've got to do this... subliminally."

"Subliminally?" I say, after a second. I like the sound of that.

"Subliminally," Johanna confirms, her voice confident.

**So, anything you liked? Sorry for the boring-ness. :'(**


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